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Theories of Lodestone
Ever since its discovery, Lodestone has befuddled scientists far and wide about its origins, construction, mechanisms, and purpose. Pyxis and Triangulum research is ever active, churning out theories faster than they can be refuted, but Lodestone's secrets remain tightly buried within its confines. The theories below share varying degrees of academic consensus and public favor, but none have been confirmed to any significant rigor. Creators and/or Former Inhabitants of the Lodestone Theories as to who created and resided in the Lodestone represent perhaps the most difficult to deduce. While some aspects of the facility's design and engineering suggest Human or Humanoid inhabitants, others portions seem entirely unsuitable for life of any kind. Nevertheless, conjecture abounds as to who once owned the station. Ancient Aliens Not saying it’s aliens… Extra-Dimensional Aliens … but it’s Aliens. A Single Massive Creature Some large spaceferring Alien that wore or somehow augmented itself with the Lodestone. It is itself an Alien beyond Human Recognition Or the Lodestone is itself a Spaceferring Alien of behavior and composition too strange for us to have identified as being a living entity. An Independent AI The Lodestone is its own inhabitant, with all the systems and facilities operated by a defunct, deleted, dormant, and/or hidden AI(s) of extreme levels of advancement (TL6?) Pre-Scream Humanity ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Purpose of the Lodestone Pyxis has successfully managed to employ the Lodestone's engine to "move" it across the sector, but whether this represents the full function of the facility, or even its intended function, is a mystery. Self-Sufficient Nomad Colony or Exploration Vessel Rather basically, and often included in other theories, is the belief that the Lodestone is a self-sufficient station for whomever created it, such that they have abandoned their traditional planetary homeworlds for permanent voyage. Ancient Alien Spikedrive Tracklayer The nature of the Lodestone’s engine is not well understood, but to the extent its operation has been observed, some surmise that if operated to its fullest potential, it could adjust the drive-space configurations of other Gravity Wells, effectively allowing it to lay the tracks of drive-space, and perhaps having been part of the origins of the entire drive-space lanes system. Central Hub of all Drive-Space Lanes Another theory pertaining to the mysterious engine of the Lodestone is that is not adjusting anything at all, but in fact lies at some grand central station of all drive-lanes. Proponents of this hypothesis suggest that if our spike-drive mathematics were calibrated to whatever parameters used by the creators of the Lodestone, that a ship could jump from anywhere to the Lodestone and vice versa. Chthonic Core of an Artificial Star The gravimetric properties of the Lodestone along with certain aspects of its design, gives rise to the theory that it once sat at the center of an artificial star. Other versions suggestion that it is a synthetic starfactory. Gigantic Alien Incubator The ever popular notion that deep within the inescapable confines of the Labyrinth lies something waiting, growing, maybe sleeping. Gigantic Alien Power-Suit, Prosthetic, or Artificial Organ The inscrutable architecture, coupled with the apparent lack of every day equipment and scarcity of intuitive consoles, suggests the possibility that the Lodestone was not inhabited by many creatures of comparable Human scale, but possibly contained or incorporated into a single sprawling entity as though a massive cybernetic enhancement. Star Compactor Popular among anti-Lodestone Conspiracy Theorists. Meta/Grav Weapon Popular among anti-Lodestone Conspiracy Theorists. Source of The Scream Popular among anti-Lodestone Conspiracy Theorists. The Lodestone “Engine” Though its operation involves no shortage of crossed fingers, the engine of the Lodestone remains its Crown Jewel, even if that may be due to the fact it is the only function so far discovered, and it may not even be an intended or appropriate function. While observations of what happens can be made when employed, this has yielded few clues to exactly how it does what it does, whether it can do more, or even if it should be doing what is being done with it at all. Physical Manipulation of Drive Lanes The effects of the Lodestone Drive seem to indicate that it somehow manipulates the configuration of drivelanes connecting to it and its “adjacent” systems. The exact means by which it would do this is not understood. Nevertheless, this proves to be the prevailing accepted theory. A Station on an Omni-Adjacent Extradimensional Coordinate In the context of the theory that the Lodestone is a central hub of drivespace, one theory proposes that the Lodestone, in addition to not moving, does not even reconfigure drivespace, instead lying on a point adjacent to all others on a currently unobserved dimension. By this theory, with proper adjustment of technology and drivespace metrics, “moving” the Lodestone would no longer be necessary, and instead all systems would be adjacent for travel to and from the Lodestone. The current method by which the House Pyxis operates the Lodestone may be some manner of limited access state, a lockdown or safe mode, closing off all but a select number of destinations at a time, giving the appearance of “moving” one system at a time. Centre of the Universe, somehow violating the cosmological principle ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Category:House Pyxis Category:Lodestone